Duke Energy crews worked to restore power to about 35,000 customers on Thursday. All were left in the dark because of storm damage and downed trees.

“In the days leading up to this, we were in our storm mode, making planning calls, making sure we had our crews and rosters full of anybody that was available,” Duke Energy spokeswoman Sally Thelen said.

Louis Valencia lost power around 5 a.m. Thursday in Hyde Park and can’t find the door key for his detached garage, leaving him locked out and his car locked in.

“I can't get into the garage, which means I can't open the garage door, which means I can't get to work and I'm stuck at the house,” Valencia said.

Duke Energy worked to fix transmission lines first before repairing lines in neighborhoods.

“We also want to stress that we appreciate our customers' patience. We know we're in the middle of summer, storms do happen,” Thelen said.

No matter the toll that the strong storms took, most people were taking the damage and disruption in stride.

“You really can't get too upset about these things. You can't blame Duke or anybody else for the storm that happened last night,” said Rice.

No injuries were reported in Thursday's early-morning storms.

Officials at Duke Energy didn't want to estimate when they might get all the power restored, but they said they'll be working around the clock to get it done.